Advent is a wonderful time to bake with children. Its not just that
it is funthough it is fun. This baking picks up the themes
of Advent: the preparing of gifts for others, to make them happy,
and the waiting for Christmas before eating the good things we prepare.

I especially recommend cookie baking .And what is most fun is using
cookie cutters and decorating the cookies (either before or after baking).

Here are a few tips on baking with children:

This is not the time to be a perfectionist. Dont expect the cookies
to look like the ones in the magazines and cookbooks. What children bring
to cookie baking (indeed, to all their cooking) is a wonderful inventiveness,
and the willingnesswhich is sometimes really exhilaratingto
experiment, to try daring new things. So have fun! Let them have
fun! The only important consideration is: does the cookie look appealing,
and edible? Dont let the children "gook" the cookies up
so much that no one would want to eat them: these are, after all, gifts
of food. Remember, most people get a real kick out of cookies made
by children. To adults who are "not amused," give another sort
of gift.

If you are going to be baking on several different occasions during the
Advent-Christmas season, find ways to keep the enterprise exciting. For
example, dont bring out all your cutters at once. You might begin
with stars. Let them focus on the star cutter, on all the ways they can
decorate starsand one what the Christmas star means. A little later,
or another day, introduce angels, perhaps. The point is, keep their attention
by helping them to focus on one kind of shape, or one kind of technique
at a time. Not only is it more exciting; this way they can master
the materials. Children can get really good at (for example) painting
cookie angels.

Incidentally, this introduction of the elements one or a few at time also
cuts down on the messnot a trivial consideration! Bring out the
sprinkles only when you are ready for them, and only one or two kinds
at time (in hard-to-tip bowls). What a mess they can make!

If you are in a hurry, or to vary the pace of the baking enterprise, you
can prepare and cut out the cookies yourself. Do it while the children
are asleep or in school or otherwise occupied. Just bring them into the
act for decorating, either before or after baking the cookies.

For example, you can have the cookies all baked. Then set them out on
the table, with pots of colored icing and paint brushes and let the children
go to town. Theres hardly any mess (even spilled "paints"
cant run very far).

The children can also join in wrapping the cookies as presents. They can
pack the cookies in pretty tins, or lay them on pretty paper plates and
wrap them with plastic wrap, or bright-colored cellophane, and a ribbon.
Encourage them to make the cards that will accompany the gifts: let them
draw the pictures, and (if they can write) do the text. The more the children
have done themselves, the more the gifts will mean to themand to
their favorite friends or relatives or teachers to whom they give them.

Springerles

[Editor's note: Here is one of the recipes from the book that John
Herreid, assistant in the Ignatius Press marketing department, remembers
making as a child in Vermont with his mother and brothers and sisters.]

Springerles are among the most traditional of the German Christmas cookies.
The word Springerle refers to the vaulting or jumping horse that
was an early motif on the molds used to make the cookies. (This motif
is said to go back to pagan times.) Many German families have old Springerle
molds; some of the most charming of them have a variety of motifs on them,
for example a bishop, or a church, mixed in with birds and animals, hearts
and flowers. Molds are available in many department and baking-goods stores.

These cookies are wonderful with a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, or
a glass of milk. They make particularly handsome Christmas presents. They
can also be used as Christmas-tree ornaments: before you bake the Springerles,
just make a little hole in the top of each for a thin ribbon to go through.

In a large bowl, beat the eggs well. Gradually add the sugar, and continue
beating until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the salt and lemon
rind. Add the baking powder, and sift in the flour, one cup at the time,
until the dough is fairly stiff and doesnt stick to your hands.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until the dough
is soft and shiny, 5  10 minutes. Roll the dough out to a thickness
of 1/4 inch. Let it stand for about 10 minutes. Flour the mold well. Press
it down on the dough, pressing firmly all around.

Cut the cookies apart. Place them on a baking sheet that has been lightly
buttered and sprinkled with anise seeds. Let the cookies sit, lightly
covered with a clean dish towel, overnight.

Bake at 300 degrees F for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies are set
and a very pale golden color. Do not let them brown.

These cookies will keep for a long timethey just get harder. If
you like them soft, pack with them in the cookie tin a piece of apple
or rye bread, replacing the apple or bread from time to time.

Optional: If you want, you can paint the Springerles with tinted icing,
but they are beautiful just as they are.

Yield: about 5 dozen cookies.

Icing: In little containers, mix confectioners sugar with a
little bit of water (or lightly beaten egg white or lemon juice) and a
few drops of food coloring to produce the desired shades and consistency
for icing. Apply with small paint brushes.